


Is this a date?

by calliopecrash



Series: Solangelo Week 2020 [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: First Date, First Kiss, M/M, Solangelo Week, Solangelo Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:09:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24893692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calliopecrash/pseuds/calliopecrash
Summary: Solangelo Week 2020, Day 4: Free DayWill and Nico spend the day in New York together when Will is forced to take a day off from working at the infirmary.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Solangelo Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1798315
Comments: 2
Kudos: 91
Collections: Solangelo Week 2020





	Is this a date?

Will Solace, Nico soon realised, was a complete and utter hypocrite.

Sure, he’d nag at Nico not to overdo it with the shadow travel, and to make sure he got enough sleep and ate proper meals - but then he’d work himself to the brink of exhaustion in the infirmary, to the point where even his siblings, who were used to Will’s workaholic nature, put their feet down and forced him to take a break.

‘I’m literally not letting you back in here for another 24 hours,’ Kayla said firmly, arms crossed as she blocked the threshold to the infirmary. ‘Take the rest of the day to just _relax_ , Will. Austin and I have everything under control.’

‘But-’

‘If there’s a genuine emergency, we’ll come and get you,’ Kayla promised. ‘Now shoo!’

She smirked and slammed the door in his face, leaving Will standing there in confusion, wondering what he actually was supposed to do now. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had a whole day to himself, with no responsibilities.

_When in doubt, find Nico_ , his brain supplied helpfully, and he began heading towards Cabin Thirteen.

He and Nico had become good friends since the war against Gaea, to the surprise of - well, literally everybody, including themselves. The only downside to now spending so much time with the son of Hades was that it made it even harder for Will to hide his enormous crush on him.

He knocked on Nico’s door.

‘Go away Jason,’ came a sleepy groan in response.

‘It’s me, Will!’ He called back.

There was a soft thud and what sounded like a muttered curse in Italian, then footsteps across the creaky wooden floors before the door opened, revealing a tired-looking Nico in pyjamas patterned with tiny ghosts, and with a serious case of bed-head.

‘What time is it?’ He mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Will’s heart fluttered at how adorable the son of Hades looked in that moment.

‘A bit after ten,’ Will replied. Nico looked confused.

‘Shouldn’t you be at the infirmary, then?’

‘I should, yes,’ Will agreed. ‘But Kayla kicked me out.’

This got a small snort of laughter out of Nico.

‘What did you do, Solace?’ He teased.

‘Nothing!’ Will protested, holding his hands up. ‘She’s just forcing me to take the day off because I’ve been “overworking myself”, or whatever.’ He made quotation marks in the air with his fingers.

‘Really? That doesn’t sound like you at all,’ Nico retorted sarcastically, then gestured for Will to come inside.

‘I know, right?!’

Nico just rolled his eyes, while Will flopped down on the spare bed opposite Nico’s. The Hades cabin was a lot more welcoming now that Nico had enlisted Hazel’s help in redecorating, replacing the half dozen coffin beds with two queen-size canopy beds in dark wood, with privacy curtains in navy blue (for Nico) and royal purple (for Hazel). The side of the room opposite Hades’ altar was now filled with a large bookcase, flat-screen TV and record player.

‘So…what are you doing here, then?’ Nico finally asked, struggling in vain to straighten out his sleep-tousled hair.

‘Well, I’ve got a free day now,’ Will explained matter-of-factly. ‘So I thought we could maybe spend it together?’ He smiled warmly and Nico had to consciously focus on calming the skeletal butterflies that always seemed to wreak havoc on his stomach when he caught sight of the blonde healer’s dazzling grin.

‘Okay,’ Nico agreed, trying to sound casual. ‘What do you want to do?’

Will shrugged.

‘Doesn’t really matter. I mean, our options are pretty limited anyway, here at camp.’

‘We could go into the city though,’ Nico pointed out, before he could think better of it. ‘To New York.’

Will’s eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed.

‘Oh no, Death Boy, you are _not_ shadow travelling us into New York City,’ he said firmly. ‘As much as I appreciate the offer, you’re nowhere near strong enough to be using your powers again just yet.’

‘I don’t have to shadow travel, though. I have a chauffeur.’

‘You have…a chauffeur…right. Of course you do,’ Will muttered with a wry smile. Nico never failed to surprise him.

‘Jules-Albert can pick us up as soon as I summon him,’ Nico continued. ‘And drive us into the city just like a mortal driver would.’ Was it Will’s imagination, or did Nico actually seem _excited_ now, at the prospect of an outing together? ‘We could go to a museum, or for a walk in Central Park…whatever you want to do.’

‘Well…’ Will bit his lip. ‘I’ve never actually been to New York except for during the Battle of Manhattan, and there wasn’t exactly time for sightseeing then.’ He met Nico’s gaze and broke out into a wide grin.

‘Alright, di Angelo. It’s a date.’

* * * * *

In hindsight, Nico probably should have mentioned to Will that Jules-Albert was a zombie _before_ he came to pick them up.

_‘Quel est son problème?’_

‘Nothing’s wrong with him, Jules,’ Nico replied in English. ‘Just forgot to mention your…ahem…condition.’

Jules-Albert let out an indignant ‘hmph!’, but said no more until he dropped them off outside the Empire State Building.

‘We can probably stay about four hours before I’ll have to summon Jules to bring us back to camp in time for dinner,’ Nico announced, watching fondly as Will adjusted the strap of his messenger bag and smoothed out his rumpled t-shirt. ‘What do you want to do first?’

Will grinned broadly and held out his arm for Nico to take, much to the son of Hades’ combined thrill and embarrassment.

‘You know, I’ve always wanted to see the Museum of Natural History…’

* * * * *

They spent almost two whole hours at the museum, then walked through Central Park and back down towards the Rockefeller Centre. At one point Will had taken Nico’s hand in his to cross the street at a particularly busy crossroads, but then never let go of it again. The feel of the son of Apollo’s slender fingers threaded between his own was doing all sorts of crazy things to his heart rate, but Nico couldn’t bring himself to let go.

‘We should get something to eat,’ Will suggested at last, looking concerned as he glanced up at the sky, presumably determining the time of day from the position of the sun. ‘We can spare another forty minutes or so before you summon Jules-Albert again, and you need to eat to keep your strength up.’

Nico’s eyes immediately gravitated towards a pair of golden arches across the street, and Will clucked his tongue reproachfully.

‘Fine, no McDonalds,’ he chuckled. ‘Actually, I happen to know a place not too far from here - an Italian place that does really good, authentic cuisine. The owner was really good to me a few times when I was younger and on the run,’ he added quietly.

‘That sounds perfect then,’ Will agreed, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

* * * * *

The food was as good as Nico remembered, and he could tell Will enjoyed it too. When it came time to leave, Nico even mustered up the courage to ask for some more pizzelles for Will to take back to the Apollo cabin.

‘This is honestly the best day I’ve had in a very long time,’ Will declared with a warm smile as they walked back towards the Empire State Building. He paused on the sidewalk and reached for Nico’s hand again, giving it a gentle squeeze. He moved to close the distance between them.

‘Thank you, Nico.’

Will’s face was so close, Nico could smell the pizzelles on his breath, and see all the different shades of blue in his eyes. They were so bright, so beautiful. _Will_ was so bright, so beautiful.

Nico gasped just as Will’s soft lips tentatively brushed against his own.

‘Oh gods, I’m so sorry,’ Will stammered, pulling away. He looked mortified, and his cheeks were flushed deep pink. ‘I misunderstood, I thought… oh, gods.’ He looked like he was on the verge of tears. ‘I’m so, so sorry, Nico. I thought this was supposed to be a date.’

‘A date?’ Nico echoed, eyes widening with surprise.

‘I know, it was stupid of me to think that,’ Will muttered, running a hand through his hair in frustration. ‘Stupid to think that you could have those sort of feelings for someone like me.’

‘Wait…’ Nico realised he must sound like he was incredibly slow on the uptake, but he wanted to make sure he wasn’t mistaken about what he was hearing. ‘Are you saying you _wanted_ this to be a date?’

‘Well…yeah,’ Will confessed, looking miserable.

‘And what do you mean, “someone like you”?’ Nico demanded. ‘You mean someone kind, and smart, and brave, and freaking _beautiful_?’

Now Will stood silent, almost as if too nervous to breathe.

‘Will…do you still want this to be a date?’ Nico asked quietly. Will nodded, slowly.

‘Then…’ Nico took a deep breath. ‘It can still be one. I want it to be one too.’

‘Really?’ Will’s smile was slowly returning, his eyes hopeful. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Don’t make me want to change my mind, Solace.’

This time it was Nico who shyly reached for Will’s hand, and pulled the other boy towards him.

‘Nico…’ Will whispered. ‘Can I kiss you?’

Nico nodded, a small but genuine smile growing on his lips as he reached up to cup Will’s cheek.

‘Please, _please_ do.’


End file.
